Okay, so today I get to read Chapter 2.
We meet José who wants to do naughty things to Ana but she doesn't like him that way. She thinks he's starting to get the message while he's popping open a bottle of champagne and smiling at her. Yeah, he's gotten the message.
Then she goes to work and wowee, who happens to show up but Christian Grey (because he was in the area - hands up who believes that). He gets her to help him fill his kinky shopping list and gets jealous when she hugs another friend that she hasn't seen in ages. He also agrees to a photoshoot to go along with the article if she can find a photographer. Oh wait, Chekhov's photographer already got introduced.
Are you seriously trying to tell me that you have no clue why you're breathing fast? Seriously girl, have you never been in lust before? Okay, hang on... Backtrack for a second. I get the looks, wealth and power but his civility? I know walking down the street, I've often been found to remark 'Damn, that man has a fine set of manners'. I mean, haven't we all?
I'm, again, having a hard time putting myself into Ana's shoes. Maybe I'm just a little more sexually liberated than she is, but when I was in my early 20's, I knew what it meant when my heart did that little skippity-skip double beat. She's incredibly naive in my incredibly humble opinion. Girl, get out there, go drinking with a few friends, go dancing, kiss someone for God's sake. And if you can't do that, go to Anne Summer's or equivalent and get some of that stress worked out.
*facepalm* Okay, I mentioned this in the last chapter, but seriously. You have enough time to call your job and tell them that there's a chance that you're not going to be there for your shift. The owner's wife says that she wasn't expecting Ana in, but you don't have enough time to fire up a computer and type something into Google?
Christian Grey is 27 years old and the CEO/Owner of a company that is successful enough to hire 40,000 people, which is roughly the size of Microsoft just to put it in perspective by the way. I'm fairly sure that there's going to be a writeup in some of the business journals or on Wikipedia. I mean, it's rare enough that it's going to raise a couple of eyebrows. He's featured in society pages at the very least. There was no reason for you to walk into that interview unprepared except for your own stupidity and laziness and neither of those endear you to me, Ana. So Kate didn't think to include a top sheet on the guy, but she's sick, remember? Ever had the flu? I can barely remember my name when I have the flu. Stop blaming your friend for this.
This one is a bit of a technical issue that I have with the chapter. Each line comes from a different paragraph which follows on from the previous paragraph. In the space of three chapters, she has joined the I-5 and started cruising along it, then cut her speed and then joined the I-5 again. I'm going to say that she got lost somewhere along the way and had to try to find her way back onto the I-5.
Ah hah! So Kate is a rich kid. That explains how she has a CLK, but wow, her parents bought her a house for a 4 year college course before she actually decides that she wants to stay in college. Disposable income or what?
3 hours there, 3 hours back and an interview with a busy man... Just exactly when did you expect her back? And as if that isn't bad enough. THE INTERVIEW RAN OVER! What? How? What the hell? You asked him like 10 questions and they weren't very open questions. How long had he scheduled for the interview? Five minutes?
Apart from when he hands you your diploma you mean? And delivers the commencement speech at your graduation? I suppose she could skip her graduation, but that seems to have slipped Ana's mind totally.
Hang on a second, lets look at the imagery there. I haven't really had any of those things either. My knees have never trembled when I met someone, and my heart has never jumped into my mouth until I was about to make one of those emotionally vulnerable admissions. I sleep fine at night, too, just in case you wondered.
Okay, so given what I know of how the story is going to go, I have to be honest. I don't think that Ana has the emotional wherewithal to get into a relationship with a) an older man, b) any BDSM aspects, c) anyone who is not a blushing virgin. She's incredibly naive. She's emotionally underdeveloped so far. She's vulnerable in the way that a lamb is vulnerable to a wolf wearing a sheepskin. She's got no realistic view of relationships if that is her idea of what romance is. She can't even work out what she's feeling for Grey earlier in the chapter, but when he shows up in the store (because yeah, that's not creepy at all), she completely buys that he just happened to be in the area and in need for some DIY stuff... Come here, girl, I got a bridge with your name on it.
I'm not even going to talk about the coveralls, because seriously? Do I need to?
"I have the uncanny feeling that he's laughing at me." D'uh. Yes, he is laughing at you. He's thinking that you are going to be so easy to roll.
Ana is a character who, if this was a movie, I would be shouting at every time she came on screen. Christian is a guy with too much time on his hands and a fetish for stalking. He's starting to come off as the sort of guy who mum's warn their kids about. He is coming off as older than 27, but that makes sense if he's running a mega-corp. Ana's coming in a lot younger than 24 though. Also, lets do some math here. She's 24 and she's graduating from an arts course. That's 3-4 years. So she either went into college at 20-21 (1-2 years later than the usual entry age) or she went to college and she failed a few years. Either way, the math doesn't work, and what's worse is that I'd find her a lot more believable if she was 21.
Mixed feelings about Christian, I have to admit, at the moment, but I can't actually relate to Ana. That may change, but...
Chapter 3 tomorrow. Someone remind me why I'm doing this to myself? Oh yeah, tea and a huge slice of Accent's chocolate cake! Eyes on the prize, girl. We're going to get through this even if it kills us.
Quick Summary:
Ana manages to get back to her friends car without tripping over her feet (major achievement) and back to WSU without incident. Kate's feeling better but wearing her break-up PJ's. They have a brief chat about how Christian was totally into her. There's a phonecall with her mom, a phonecall with the man she considers her dad, even though neither of those conversations really add anything to the story.We meet José who wants to do naughty things to Ana but she doesn't like him that way. She thinks he's starting to get the message while he's popping open a bottle of champagne and smiling at her. Yeah, he's gotten the message.
Then she goes to work and wowee, who happens to show up but Christian Grey (because he was in the area - hands up who believes that). He gets her to help him fill his kinky shopping list and gets jealous when she hugs another friend that she hasn't seen in ages. He also agrees to a photoshoot to go along with the article if she can find a photographer. Oh wait, Chekhov's photographer already got introduced.
My Thoughts:
Okay, so we start this chapter on a bit of a stupid note:No man has ever affected me the way Christian Grey has, and I cannot fathom why. Is it his looks? His civility? Wealth? Power? I don’t understand my irrational reaction. [...] I shake my head. Holy crap – what was that?
Are you seriously trying to tell me that you have no clue why you're breathing fast? Seriously girl, have you never been in lust before? Okay, hang on... Backtrack for a second. I get the looks, wealth and power but his civility? I know walking down the street, I've often been found to remark 'Damn, that man has a fine set of manners'. I mean, haven't we all?
I'm, again, having a hard time putting myself into Ana's shoes. Maybe I'm just a little more sexually liberated than she is, but when I was in my early 20's, I knew what it meant when my heart did that little skippity-skip double beat. She's incredibly naive in my incredibly humble opinion. Girl, get out there, go drinking with a few friends, go dancing, kiss someone for God's sake. And if you can't do that, go to Anne Summer's or equivalent and get some of that stress worked out.
Again, I’m irritated that Kate didn’t give me a brief biography. [...] “Don’t you look so innocent. Why didn’t you give me a biography? He made me feel like such an idiot for skimping on basic research.”
*facepalm* Okay, I mentioned this in the last chapter, but seriously. You have enough time to call your job and tell them that there's a chance that you're not going to be there for your shift. The owner's wife says that she wasn't expecting Ana in, but you don't have enough time to fire up a computer and type something into Google?
Christian Grey is 27 years old and the CEO/Owner of a company that is successful enough to hire 40,000 people, which is roughly the size of Microsoft just to put it in perspective by the way. I'm fairly sure that there's going to be a writeup in some of the business journals or on Wikipedia. I mean, it's rare enough that it's going to raise a couple of eyebrows. He's featured in society pages at the very least. There was no reason for you to walk into that interview unprepared except for your own stupidity and laziness and neither of those endear you to me, Ana. So Kate didn't think to include a top sheet on the guy, but she's sick, remember? Ever had the flu? I can barely remember my name when I have the flu. Stop blaming your friend for this.
While cruising along the I-5, my mind continues to wander. [...] I check the speedometer. I’m driving more cautiously than I would on any other occasion. [...] As I hit the 1-5, I realize I can drive as fast as I want.
This one is a bit of a technical issue that I have with the chapter. Each line comes from a different paragraph which follows on from the previous paragraph. In the space of three chapters, she has joined the I-5 and started cruising along it, then cut her speed and then joined the I-5 again. I'm going to say that she got lost somewhere along the way and had to try to find her way back onto the I-5.
Kate’s parents bought the place for her, and I pay peanuts for rent. It’s been home for four years now.
Ah hah! So Kate is a rich kid. That explains how she has a CLK, but wow, her parents bought her a house for a 4 year college course before she actually decides that she wants to stay in college. Disposable income or what?
“I was beginning to worry. I expected you back sooner.”
“Oh, I thought I made good time considering the interview ran over.” I wave the mini-disc recorder at her.
3 hours there, 3 hours back and an interview with a busy man... Just exactly when did you expect her back? And as if that isn't bad enough. THE INTERVIEW RAN OVER! What? How? What the hell? You asked him like 10 questions and they weren't very open questions. How long had he scheduled for the interview? Five minutes?
I’m glad I’ll never have to lay eyes on him again.
Apart from when he hands you your diploma you mean? And delivers the commencement speech at your graduation? I suppose she could skip her graduation, but that seems to have slipped Ana's mind totally.
Katherine often teases me that I’m missing the need-a-boyfriend gene, but the truth is – I just haven’t met anyone who… well, whom I’m attracted to, even though part of me longs for those trembling knees, heart-in-my-mouth, butterflies-in-my-belly, sleepless nights.Two words. Anne Summers. Another two words. The internet. Credit Card. Web search. It's not that hard girl. You really need to get out more. Okay, so she hasn't met someone that she's interested in romantically, but is she really saying that she's never had a crush? Ever?
Hang on a second, lets look at the imagery there. I haven't really had any of those things either. My knees have never trembled when I met someone, and my heart has never jumped into my mouth until I was about to make one of those emotionally vulnerable admissions. I sleep fine at night, too, just in case you wondered.
Okay, so given what I know of how the story is going to go, I have to be honest. I don't think that Ana has the emotional wherewithal to get into a relationship with a) an older man, b) any BDSM aspects, c) anyone who is not a blushing virgin. She's incredibly naive. She's emotionally underdeveloped so far. She's vulnerable in the way that a lamb is vulnerable to a wolf wearing a sheepskin. She's got no realistic view of relationships if that is her idea of what romance is. She can't even work out what she's feeling for Grey earlier in the chapter, but when he shows up in the store (because yeah, that's not creepy at all), she completely buys that he just happened to be in the area and in need for some DIY stuff... Come here, girl, I got a bridge with your name on it.
Cable ties [...] Masking tape [...] five yards of the natural filament rope [...] CoverallsAnyone else raising an eyebrow at that list? There's ways to be obvious and then there's Christian Grey. Okay, so lets look at the list. The least offensive item on the list is the masking tape (mainly cause it's no fecking use for any sort of serious bondage or gagging because it's about as sticky as wet paper), followed by the rope (which is going to be a little rough by the way and not what I'd favour because rope burns are definitely not romantic), but cable ties? No f-ing way. Cable ties are one of those things that you see people use in videos or on cop shows because they are very quick to apply, but they come with a huge danger of cutting off circulation. There's also no easy out from cable ties. They have to be cut and they're rather tough to cut so if the sub is panicking, you've got some major hacking to do to get them free.
I'm not even going to talk about the coveralls, because seriously? Do I need to?
“Are you redecorating?” The words are out before I can stop them. Surely he hires laborers or has staff to help him decorate?Oh poor naive Ana. You are just so blonde! You may have brown hair but honestly, girl, that is just dumb with a side of stupid. He's laughing at your innocence and the fact that you couldn't pick up a clue with handles and a manual. Seriously?
“No, not redecorating,” he says quickly then smirks, and I have the uncanny feeling that he’s laughing at me.
Am I that funny? Funny looking?
"I have the uncanny feeling that he's laughing at me." D'uh. Yes, he is laughing at you. He's thinking that you are going to be so easy to roll.
Okay – I like him. There, I’ve admitted it to myself. I cannot hide from my feelings anymore. I’ve never felt like this before. I find him attractive, very attractive. But it’s a lost cause, I know, and I sigh with bittersweet regret. It was just a coincidence, his coming here. But still, I can admire him from afar, surely? No harm can come of that. And if I find a photographer, I can do some serious admiring tomorrow. I bite my lip in anticipation and find myself grinning like a schoolgirl.Paging José, the guy who was the first person that you met when you came to college, the guy whose dad is friends with the man you consider your dad, the guy who invited you to his photography show, ya know, the one about whom you said: "José has a great eye for a good picture." I mean, seriously. This is Chehkov's photographer. You've mentioned him, you have to use him.
Ana is a character who, if this was a movie, I would be shouting at every time she came on screen. Christian is a guy with too much time on his hands and a fetish for stalking. He's starting to come off as the sort of guy who mum's warn their kids about. He is coming off as older than 27, but that makes sense if he's running a mega-corp. Ana's coming in a lot younger than 24 though. Also, lets do some math here. She's 24 and she's graduating from an arts course. That's 3-4 years. So she either went into college at 20-21 (1-2 years later than the usual entry age) or she went to college and she failed a few years. Either way, the math doesn't work, and what's worse is that I'd find her a lot more believable if she was 21.
Mixed feelings about Christian, I have to admit, at the moment, but I can't actually relate to Ana. That may change, but...
Chapter 3 tomorrow. Someone remind me why I'm doing this to myself? Oh yeah, tea and a huge slice of Accent's chocolate cake! Eyes on the prize, girl. We're going to get through this even if it kills us.
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